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MRI
| Mon, 06-26-2006 - 8:50pm |
I am curious if any of your children had an MRI and if the MRI showed anything abnormal that would lead to Asperger's diagnosis being made.
I ask because it seems that the diagnosis in general is an "opinion". My mom said she saw a special on some channel that said the MRI results for those with Autism AND Asperger's clearly showed difference than a person without. I thought it wasn't as clear cut as that. I looked on line and I am having a hard time finding info that is in terms I can comprehend.

I believe what your mom saw was an epsiode of Dr. Phil that aired last fall I think it was.
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There is loads of research being done on MRI and fMRI at the present time with people with AS and autism. They are seeing some patterns of similarities that they believe are related to ASD and how the ASD brain works.
However, they are not yet at the point of being able to use this to make a diagnosis unfortunately. It is not an exact enough science.
They are also working on genetic testing for autism. I was reading (I think Val had the link? or maybe it was an email. yeah that is it) about a test for autism during pregnancy they are starting to come up with. Or at least a test which can indicate if a child may develop ASD.
They are also working on finding the genes that cause autism and they are getting closer. The general thought is that our kids are genetically predisposed and then some environmental factor kind of sets things in motion so a genetic test at this point would also likely to be able to not say a person is ASD for sure but that they are predisposed to developing it.
There are lots of testing and research in the works but at present the only way to diagnose ASD is through symptoms and observations and checklists.
Renee
I am not sure I would be a big fan on the test during pregnacy, imagine how many people may choose to abort? They would miss the opportunity of having a wonderful child as children with autism are very special.
I am not sure what my problem is with the diagnosis because anything about Asperger's I read sounds exactly like my son. However, then I see a special on TV and it is always a more severe case and I think maybe I am wrong.
I agree about the test in pregnancy actually on many many levels. But that is what is currently in the works I think. I have to go reread the artcle again.
It is always hard with AS kids I think because of the media and other peoples oppinions.
Last night at karate (remembering that I have on 2 occasions explained AS to the sensei who seems to have memory problems) this came up again. Mike has been working really really hard at karate and has been in this class for over 6 months now. It has a set routine which he has done cold, and rules that we have gone over via social story, etc. Basically, what it comes down to is that Mike is able to fake it pretty darn well now. Had loads of trouble in the beginning. He will ocassionally do some verbal stims, movie lines or similar but he really really tries to not do that the whole time we are there. Cait just started the class and she can fake pretty well in those situations because they are not social or team.
Anyway, the sensei brings up a TV show he saw on autistic savants to the class. How these people were amazing but all blind and could play music before they were born, etc. He says how it gives you a look into the brain, etc. THEN he says, well I guess it doesn't tell us much about these kids brains since we are working with kids and he doesn't know about anything with them and they all seem NORMAL to him.
What bugged me a WHOLE bunch was the look on Mike's face. Mike knows he is autistic and I am not sure if the sensei's statement confused him or angered him (both expressions look similar) but he didn't like it at all.
Renee
We have never had a MRI - son's ped neuro suggested that we may do one in the future.....no immediate plans for one though.
A test during pregnancy........hhmmmmmm......not sure what I think of that. In one way, I view it the same way I viewed taking the Quad Check (use to be the Triple check - for downs and neurotube defects and some other stuff). It was just a simple blood test so I had it done. My sister-in-laws were horrified that I had the test done. In their minds it meant that I would abort the pregnancy if the baby wasn't perfect. I explained to them that my reasoning for doing it is to be prepared. If the test showed that I was having (or had a great risk of having) a down syndrome child then I would want to do as much research on downs as I could. I would want to know what to expect with a downs syndrome child - what should their development look like, what other health problems might accompany downs, find a local support group with BTDT (Been There Done That) parents, etc. So I guess like anything......it depends on the person. I don't honestly know if I was offered an autism test when I was pregnant with Jack if I would have wanted to know or not......probably yes, to be prepared.....I don't know......interesting question that opens up a whole can of worms.....
Renee......what an odd thing for Mike's sensei to bring up? Was he discussing this in front of the whole class or just you and Mike? Either way, I think it was pretty inappropriate. He probably saw the TV program and it made him think of Mike - but still.....odd.
Christie
Quite a few people have mentioned that TV program to me (it was on 60 minutes on Sunday). Also, since J-Mac is from our town, we're still reading a lot about him in the paper etc. The nice thing about a recent article on J-Mac is that they went into great detail about ASD in general, the different diagnoses, how large the spectrum is, and how every case is different etc. Without that kind of info, I think it's so easy to generalize about the specific cases they show on TV, which tend to be either really impaired kids or else savants. Of course my child is neither, so it's hard for people to relate what they see on TV to what they see in Sylvia...
About the MRI: the dev ped who dx'ed Sylvia suggested we get an MRI, because Sylvia was born with a hemangioma on her nose (a birthmark that's like a cluster of blood vessels that tends to grow quite a bit during the first year and then gradually recede), and he thought there might be a possibility that there was a hemangioma in her brain as well that might have caused her autism. However, he told us that even if there was a hemangioma in her brain, it wouldn't affect her prognosis or her treatment -- it would just let us say, "Oh, so that's why." So we opted not to get the MRI, since it would have involved general anaesthesia and seemed like a pretty difficult procedure for Sylvia, for not much usable information...
Jennifer